Kitimat residents vote no on Northern Gateway (updated)

Peter O'Neil, Vancouver Sun04.13.2014

A group of First Nations, with territory covering a quarter of the route for the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline, has gathered in Fort St. James, British Columbia to officially reject the project on Friday April 11, 2014.Dene Moore
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Voters arrive at a polling station to cast their ballots in Kitimat, B.C.’s plebiscite on the Northern Gateway pipeline project on Saturday, April 12, 2014. A good turnout is expected as Kitimat residents express their opinion on the controversial project.Robin Rowland
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Residents of Kitimat, B.C., cast ballots in the town’s plebiscite on the Northern Gateway pipeline project, Saturday, April 12, 2014. A good turnout is expected as Kitimat residents express their opinion on the controversial project.Robin Rowland
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Gord Ouvwehand, a supporter of the No side in the Kitimat plebscite on the Enbridge Northern Gateway project, poses in a hazmat with a simulated oil covered loon in Kitimat, B.C., Sunday, March 30, 2014. Residents of Kitimat will cast votes Saturday for or against the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.Robin Rowland
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Kitimat plebiscite officer Marjorie Phelps checks ballots as she waits to register new voters during Kitimat, B.C.’s plebiscite on the Northern Gateway pipeline project Saturday, April 12, 2014. A good turnout is expected as Kitimat residents express their opinion on the controversial project.Robin Rowland
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Marie Browning casts her ballot during Kitimat, B.C.’s plebiscite on the Northern Gateway pipeline project,Saturday, April 12, 2014. A good turnout is expected as Kitimat residents express their opinion on the controversial project.Robin Rowland
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Douglas Channel, the proposed termination point for an oil pipeline in the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, is pictured in an aerial view in Kitimat, B.C., on Tuesday January 10, 2012. Residents of Kitimat will cast votes Saturday for or against the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.DARRYL DYCK
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Competing campaign signs are seen in Kitimat, B.C. on Saturday, April 12, 2014, as voters cast their ballots in the town’s plebiscite on the Northern Gateway pipeline project. A good turnout is expected as Kitimat residents express their opinion on the controversial project.Robin Rowland
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

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OTTAWA — The backers of the Northern Gateway pipeline are vowing to plow ahead despite a blunt rejection by citizens of Kitimat, the community that stands to gain the most from the $7.9 billion megaproject.

The unofficial results of a Saturday plebiscite showed 1,793 voted against the project, or 58.4 per cent, compared to 1,278 who endorsed it, or 41.6 per cent, according to the District of Kitimat.

The results of the non-binding plebiscite will be considered today by the Kitimat municipal council, which has the option of declaring that it shares the community’s opposition to the project, according to Mayor Joanne Monaghan.

The company — taking advantage of the absence of spending limits for B.C. municipal plebiscites — raised the stakes by waging an aggressive campaign.

Northern Gateway posted pro-pipeline signs around the community, waged a media advertising campaign, and had a dozen employees in the community — most flown in from Calgary — making presentations and going door to door.

The campaign stressed the expected creation of 180 permanent jobs in the community, where tankers would load and ship hundreds of thousands of barrels of diluted bitumen a day to Asia-Pacific markets.

A spokesman for the Northern Gateway Limited Partnership, the legal pipeline financing entity that includes Calgary-based Enbridge, responded to the results by saying proponents have to make a stronger case to the community.

The vote "shows that while there is support for Northern Gateway in Kitimat, we have more work to do," said Donny van Dyk, Northern Gateway’s Kitimat-based manager of coastal Aboriginal and community relations.

"And over the coming weeks and months we will continue to reach out and listen to our neighbours and friends so that Northern Gateway can build a lasting legacy for the people of our community."

New Democratic Party MP Nathan Cullen, who represents the region in Ottawa and was in Kitimat for the vote, said the company suffered a huge setback.

"You will not find a more pro-development town in B.C.," said the MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

Cullen said the company response — that the community just needs more outreach efforts — suggests that the anti-pipeline voters are "ignorant" of the project’s overall benefits.

"This is deeply offensive to people, like they’re saying, ‘We’ve heard you and we’re going to ignore you.’"

The Harper government, which regularly speaks out about the need for pipelines to get Alberta’s diluted bitumen to Asia-Pacific markets, is to decide by mid-June whether to give the project the go-ahead.

"We have been clear that projects will only proceed if they are safe for Canadians and safe for the environment," said Alexandra Lemieux.

Critics, including the local Douglas Channel Watch that led the grassroots opposition in the plebiscite, said the company and Ottawa need to get the message.

"This result demonstrates that the citizens of British Columbia cannot be bought, that we will not trade the long-term health of our salmon rivers or our pristine north coast for a handful of jobs, and that we are determined to keep the north coast of B.C. bitumen-free," said spokesman Murray Minchin.

University of B.C. political scientist George Hoberg said the vote is "just another indicator" of provincewide opposition.

"Kitimat is the one community in B.C. that would receive direct long-term benefits in terms of jobs at the terminal, and even the residents there oppose the pipeline," he said in an email.

The plebiscite question had come under scrutiny, with some critics suggesting it was too wordy and confusing because it was tied to a federal panel’s massive December report that endorsed Northern Gateway — subject to 209 conditions.

The question: "Do you support the final report recommendations of the Joint Review Panel (JRP) of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and National Energy Board, that the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project be approved, subject to 209 conditions set out in Volume 2 of the JRP’s final report?"

Cullen described it as comparable to the similarly wordy and confusing 1995 Quebec referendum question, which was widely seen as an attempt by separatist Premier Jacques Parizeau to win a "Yes" vote from fence-sitters who didn’t necessarily want an independent country.

Two experts on public opinion questions, veteran pollster Allan Gregg and Carleton University professor Scott Bennett, told The Vancouver Sun last week that the wording was flawed.

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